Ambition:
Should a Christian Seek “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
So there we were, in a room full of mostly young Christians. We were
listening to a presenter talk about ambition and the pressure to succeed in our world. He said youth today live in an age of self-promotion. They brand themselves on Facebook and Twitter and on their college admission applications, all in the name of securing for themselves the best lives possible. They are ambitious, and their ambition is for things and success, and ultimately, for self-meaning and self-validation.
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Our speaker told us to realize that our identity is found not in things and success, but in Jesus. He died for us and shed His blood for our sins, including materialism and self-idolatry. We are baptized into Christ and inherit eternal life through Him. The speaker said we will find peace, not in our ambition, but in God’s word. With this revelation comes the end of the pressures of our material world, the end of the pretense of acting like something we are not. The engine of uncertainty and insecurity is shut down, and we rest in the grace of God. I liked this presentation. The speaker accurately depicted the world’s sinful condition and identified how young adults are trapped in it. He offered as a remedy the security and certainty of Christ and the eternal life His sacrifice guarantees. All this was thoughtful, true, and comforting. But is there a conflict between ambition and faith in Christ? My wife and I have three ambitious, driven kids. They openly and aggressively pursue the best life, the best jobs, and the best educations. But they also know they find their identities and self-worth, not in their own accomplishments, but in the forgiveness of sins and in Christ alone. I believe that there is no conflict here and that there is room for ambition in the life of a Christian. Ambition can be directed toward our own ends, but it can be used for God’s ends, too.
